Red Rose
by 40the2
Summary: What if Summer had a brother all along? Another silver eyed hunter for Ruby to learn from? But there has to be a reason Ruby has never heard of him before… Rated T
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **What if Summer had a brother all along? Another silver eyed hunter for Ruby to learn from? But there has to be a reason Ruby has never heard of him before… Rated T**_

 _ **Well, this is my first attempt at a fanfic, based on an idea I had about volume 4 of RWBY. Hope it doesn't hurt too badly to read.**_

 _ **Author's Note pt. II: So, I wrote chapter five like, eight months ago and thought I posted it, but didn't? Then I realised when I got a review asking me to update that it'd been a month or two since I'd even written anything, so I came back to Red Rose and realised… I want to rewrite everything. So sorry about the wait, and now for your reading pleasure: Red Rose, Take Two**_

 _ ***Pop pop pop***_

" _ **Testing, Testing, One Two Three! Is this thing on? Yeah? Alright, let's start this thing!"**_

Snow fell in droves around us, the cold creeping into our bones heedless of our warm clothing. It had been months since the fall, with team RNJR hardly getting by. Food was scarce. The grim in the forests covering Vale don't kill the native wildlife, but they certainly scare herbivores away, and the carnivores follow their food source. Birds and larger peaceful creatures can still be found, but even they are a rarity. Our best meals were often charred moose.

It was hard, after the fall. None of us could were eager to return to civilization, our memories were too fresh. We skirted around the small villages dotting Vale, and for the most part kept to ourselves. Always moving forward, but never moving towards something. There was the vague goal of reuniting team RWBY, but even then there was no first step we could take.

Weiss was in Atlas, a place only reachable by airship. Airships meant civilization, which meant Atlas was out of the question at least for a little while longer. Yang was at home, but she wasn't herself. We never needed to find her, she needed to find herself. And lastly, Blake had evaporated into thin air. The girl was just missing; no note, no goodbyes, just gone. She could be anywhere on Remnant.

We managed though, somehow. Through the Grimm, the unforgiving cold, through hunger and thirst, through the pain felt by each and every member of RNJR, we survived. I think, really, it was Jaune that held us together. Back then, I was still reeling from Cinder. From Yang and Pyrrha. I was still happy and energetic, I was just… off. There were times when I would shut down; looking into our campfire, or the eyes of a grim, my legs would lock and I'd begin to shake. I would get cold and my heart began to pound, my mind was so caught up in reliving my nightmares that - but then Jaune would snap me out of it. A gentle hand on my arm, a light hug to stop the shaking in my bones. I would have fallen apart without him.

Ren and Nora took the fall very differently, though both seemed to surrender to their bad habits. Nora was still energetic, bubbly and trigger happy, but no longer did she monitor herself in any way whatsoever. If there was a Grimm, Nora was flying at it. With or without us, armed and or injured or not, Nora was going to do what Nora was going to do. She was reckless, like it didn't really matter if her life was in danger anymore, and that was terrifying for the rest of us.

It especially scared Ren, despite the fact that he showed it the least of all of us. Ren drew into himself, there were weeks where he wouldn't say a word. He wouldn't look us in the eyes. It was all Jaune and I could do to keep him from sitting somewhere in the woods and waiting for death to take him. Once, Ren stopped eating. Nora and I both pleaded with him, but neither of us could convince him to eat. We was deadset, he didn't _deserve_ to eat. In the end it was Jaune who convinced him. At mealtime, Jaune sat in front of Ren, and placed his own portion in front of the fasting boy. Ren refused. Hours passed, and the food spoiled. Neither of them ate, but Ren got the message. The next day, he ate. He wasn't happy about it, but he ate. That episode was scary for Nora and I, though admittedly more for Nora.

The worst out of us though, was Jaune. Not because he tempted death like Nora, or denied himself basic needs like Ren, or even because he was mentally unstable like I was. He was, and did, none of those things. But he cried. Late, late at night when we were all asleep, Jaune Arc wept and revealed to the world his weakness. He was broken. When he lost Pyrrha, something snapped inside him which could never be fixed. So we pretended, Nora and Ren and I, that we couldn't hear him weep. We needed him to be stronger than all of us, and to admit that even the man who kept us together, who kept us alive, was broken on the inside… that was the terrifying part.

 _ ***Sigh***_

For better or worse though, we survived. We kept moving, slowly growing stronger as we searched for… something. Anything. Day in and day out, we explored the seemingly endless woods of Vale, finding nothing but the burrows and dens of forest denizens long gone. Eventually though, were bound to find something. And six months in, we found something that changed our lives forever. Well, changed _my_ life forever, at the very least. That day, the forest was dense, the snow was cold and blindingly white, and the sun was low on the horizon. The great white death buried our tracks as we made them. The night before, we had found a cave to sleep in; stone walls resisting the chill of Vale's temperate forests. The birds chirping in the nearby trees told us there were no Grimm nearby, for despite posing no threat to the wildlife many animals avoided the Grimm at all costs. For the first time in a long time, we felt good. Maybe that was why we let our guard down.

I'd been setting up the fire pit for that night when I heard the crunch of snow behind me. It was very, very quiet, and that was what warned me. This was a far cry from the loud crunch of someone who didn't care if you heard them or not. No, this was the sound if a hunter. This was the the last sound a rabbit ever heard, when the wolf stalking it made a mistake before snapping its neck. I froze, the significance of the sound dawning on me, and less than a heartbeat later I reacted. Crescent Rose was uncollapsed and slashing at the source of the sound faster than most people could blink. Just as quickly as I'd deployed her though, I found her tumbling through the snow as she was torn from my grasp, and I was pinned to the ground.

The back of my head hit ice on my way down, and my eyes scrunched shut involuntarily. My head was fuzzy and I couldn't see who was holding me down, but whoever they were they were a heavy hitter. As a huntress in training my upper body strength was nothing to scoff at. Not on Yang or Nora's level, sure, but still. Cresent Rose is heavy. Whoever had me pinned however, was in an entirely different league. I struggled and bucked and strained, but the body atop mine would not budge. Realising that there was nothing I could do to throw off my attacker, I let my muscles relax. If I couldn't fight my way out of this, I'd have to think my way out of it. Oh dust! Where was Weiss when you needed her...

The grip around my arms loosened as I let myself go limp. A deep, baritone voice rang out:

"Are you done fighting me?" So it was a man. I nodded in response.

"Good! Took you long enough. Sorry about having to pin you down, if it weren't for that dumb stick I'd have just knocked you out. Quick and painless. Mostly." He was going to knock me out? I opened my eyes to glare at him.

"No hard feelings right?" I didn't have time to respond, merely intensify my glare before he lifted himself off me and unsheathed a sword at his hip.

"Get up," he leveled his blade at my prone form, "but don't try anything stupid."

"Why…" my voice came out as hardly a whisper, cracking as it stumbled in my throat. The man tilted his head and chuckled, laughing at my slip. Growling, I cleared my throat. "Who are you." When I finally spoke again, my voice had an edge to it that I'd never had before. I sounded...harsh. The man heard my tone tilt in a dangerous direction and in response, his chuckle grew to a rolling laughter. Scowling, I rose to my feet and brushed the as much snow as I could off my clothes, acutely aware of the way his sword tip followed me.

A quick glance around the clearing where we had decided to set up camp informed me of why my friends hadn't rushed to my aid. Ren and Nora lay side by side in the snow, unconscious. Jaune had also been knocked out, but was sitting up against a tree. This guy...snuck up on all of us? I quickly found the man's tracks, not yet buried beneath the falling snow, and followed them up to where he had been when I noticed his existence. There, half buried by snow, was a stick. Had the man overlooked it and stepped there, like anyone else would, it would have snapped and immediately alerted me to his presence. But he hadn't. He _had_ seen it, and he had stepped around it at the last second, barely crunching the snow. I was lucky, I never should have heard him coming. By the time I finished digesting all this, the man's laughter had died out and his gaze followed mine to the offending piece of wood.

"Saw that too did ya? Yeah, I think I might be losing my touch." The man shrugged, "But hey, you can't win 'em all. And really, little girl," the man's gaze hardened and he pointedly lowered his eyes to meet mine, " _I_ should be asking _you_ who _you_ are."

My heart seized as I felt his gaze lock onto me. The man was terrifying, but not in the usual way. He wasn't physically intimidating, like the bad guys from Spruce Willis movies. Nor did he radiate an aura of evil, like Cinder. Rather, he exuberated confidence. He was stronger than me, and he _knew it_. I looked over him quickly, observing what I could before responding to his pointed statement.

He was tall, not overly so, but certainly was no pigmy. Naturally he stood roughly two meters high, with his boots raising him another five or so centimeters. Obscuring his face and most of his body was a large hooded cloak, dyed a deep red that starkly contrasted the white snow. In hindsight, the fact that he'd been able to sneak up on us despite the fact he stuck out like a sore thumb was a testament to his skill.

Besides the obvious, there wasn't much I could tell about him, except for the fact that he carried an absolutely ridiculous number of weapons. Normally someone who did that would immediately get the official "Ruby Seal Of Approval" just for obviously liking weapons as much as I did. I wasn't in a very approving mood, however. Strapped to his back was the largest sword I'd ever seen. It gave Daichi from team CFVY a run for his money. Protruding from the cloak on his left hip was an empty sheath, presumably for the sword he was currently pointing at my neck. It seemed to be a simple longsword, if you ignored the thin lines running diagonally from the center to either edge if the blade. On his right leg hung a sawed off shotgun. Preloaded, just in case. I also saw no less than three pistol grips poking out from his right flank that seemed eerily reminiscent of Ren's stormflower.

"I'm a huntress, and that's all you need to know." Lesson number one from Uncle Qrow: when in doubt, bluff. Besides, I _was_ a huntress, there was no Beacon to say otherwise.

"Do they let kids graduate early now?" the man asked rhetorically, "when I went to Beacon we graduated at twenty one. You can't be older than fifteen." _Sixteen_ , I thought absently. I could feel the man's gaze level at me as he called my bluff, the edge of his sword inching towards me. _Wait, he went to beacon? He was a hunter! Then what was HE doing out here?_ An eyebrow raised in the man's face. _Did I say that out loud?_ One deep sigh later, an exasperated sort of sarcasm filled the air.

" _I_ am hunting a grimm who, for some godforsaken reason, decided to live in this cold desolate forest." My cheeks burned red, I'd said it out loud. "But _you_ little missy, are camped out in the middle of restricted territory, armed with hunter level weaponry, and you _don't have clearance to be here._ So, give me one reason I shouldn't tie up you and your buddies and give to Vale authorities for interference with a government mandated mission." The man's voice grew harder as he spoke, I could tell his patience was wearing thin.

I looked away, staring hard at the snow near his feet when I finally answered. He didn't know.

I whispered, "Because there aren't any Vale authorities to report me to." Silence reigned as the man gazed blankly at me, his sword finally falling to point at the ground. His only response was a slow, controlled, "What happened?". It took me a few moments to find my voice, but it seemed like he was in no hurry himself.

"An attack. The White Fang and a woman named Cinder Fall snuck into Beacon. They...they-" my voice cracked, "attacked during the vital festival. A lot of people died, and then the Grimm came." I was crying, my tears actually freezing to my cheeks as they fell. The man gave me a sad smile, and reached out to cup my cheek.

"It's alright kiddo, you did good." The man sheathed his sword, and brushed a tear off my face before it too could freeze onto my skin. "So what are you kids doing out here? Surely, there's somewhere you could go?" the man gently questioned. Briefly, images of home flashed through my mind. The sad look on dad's face, the terror on Yang's when she woke up to her missing arm. When she realised that it hadn't just been a bad dream.

"We just needed to be alone," I mumbled, "it hurt too much."

The man's smile grew warmer, though his eyes still betrayed the sadness in his expression. "Well, these parts of the woods can be dangerous. You kids can spend the night with me, and we'll get you on your way in the morning." He tousled my hair. Jerk.

"What's your name anyway, Little One?"

"Ruby Rose," I sniffled. The man froze, his smile dropping as the words left my mouth.

"Rose?" he repeated. I nodded. "R. O. S. E.?" Again, I nodded. The man drew back his hood, and green eyes squinted closely studying my face. For some reason, I got the feeling that those eyes didn't fit him. Like they weren't his. The man's entire face scrunched up, drawing me from my thoughts. "Summer has a kid?"

…

…

"YOU KNEW MY MOM?!"

Pale green eyes smiled at me. "Yup, Summer has a kid."

The cabin was a sight for sore eyes. I had Nora on my back for the duration of our trek through the woods, and despite her small stature she was a heavy load to be carrying for a kilometer. The hunter had both Jaune and Ren over his shoulders, but seemed to be no worse for the wear. The windows glowed yellow with the promise of a fire and warmth.

I opened the door of the cabin and dropped Nora onto the table in the kitchen. I could feel the door be shut behind me as the cold was abruptly washed away from my back, the warmth of a fire in another room rolling over me instead. Slamming down into a chair I rubbed the stiffness out of my shoulders. After laying Jaune and Ren down beside Nora, the hunter sat down in the chair opposite me. God the fire felt good.

"Thanks for the assist, uh, Mister? Actually now that I think about it, what _is_ your name? And while you're at it," I stood, slamming my hands on the table for dramatic effect, "HOW DID KNOW MY MOM!?"

For the first time since meeting him, I found the opportunity to study his features. His hair was jet black, not unlike Uncle Qrow's, except for a single blood red streak on his head reminiscent of Ren's pink lock. He was pale except for the pink the cold had brought to his face, and had scars dotting his cheeks and chin. His face was mostly smooth, only the corners of his eyes wrinkling gently. The sole feature which might betray his age. His cheekbones were higher than they should have been, as though they had been broken at some point, but with his hard-lined jaw they only added to the air of grit that surrounded him. A dark, well groomed chinstrap beard partially hid the scars dotting his face, but somehow also managed to accentuate the pallor of his skin.

The man laughed and scratched his beard under the Ruby Rose patented "extremely penetrating gaze"

"Robin." He nodded. "My name is Robin Rose, but everyone calls me Red. As for how I knew Summer, I think you can guess."

My brain shut down. Rose? I knew I never got to see grandpa and grandma rose, but this guy didn't seem old enough for that. And mom didn't have any siblings. Right?

"You're… mom's brother?" The man nodded. "How? No one ever mentioned you…" Again, a sad smile.

"To be fair, everyone thought I was dead." I could almost feel question marks appearing above my head.

"I told why I'm out in this forest right?" This time I nodded.

"You're a hunter, right?"

"Well," he looked away from me, "sort of. I used to be. In a way." More question marks. "I graduated from Beacon, but before I could really become a hunter I got recruited into a special military task force, shared between Vale and Atlas. Well, we were what you call _black ops_. We did things that no one was supposed to know about. Including family, and especially ours. So, I had to fake my death. Robin Rose has been buried in the ground for twenty seven years."

 _Oh. Wow. That's...dark. "_ So, nobody you love knows you're alive?" _That's terrible. How could he cope with that? Does he have a dog?_

"To be fair, the only one I really care about is Summer. I've had a long time to come to terms with leaving her. Mom and Dad can bite me. Besides, I've got you now right? Whenever you get home, you can tell Summer and come visit me," he smiled ironically, "she'll be pissed, but it'll be good to finally see her again."

 _He didn't...first Vale and now this? How long has this guy been out here?_ "Mom's not… mom died. A long time ago." It hurt to speak. The man's, Robin's, smile died. His eyes widened, and I could see the beginning of tears pooling behind his gaze. He locked eyes with me, and despite how desperately I wanted to look away… I couldn't bare to.

"How… Did she die?" His voice wavered, unsteady.

"She was hunting.. Nobody knows exactly," I was beginning to cry myself, "just… one day she went on a mission and never came back."

Robin sat hard in his chair, staring blankly at the wall behind me. What felt like minutes passed in silence, the only sounds being those of breathing and lonesome tears falling to the floor. Eventually, I spoke, if only to diffuse the air building between us. "So, can you tell me about Grandpa and Grandma Rose?" Robin scoffed and wiped the remaining tears from his eyes. Improvement.

"They were self absorbed, heartless monsters and I hope you never meet them." My eyes widened in shock, and the only response I made was a quiet "uuuuuuuhhhhhhh" that made it's way to my lips.

He gave me a strange look before continuing. "How do you feel about Faunus?" My confusion only grew louder as the question sunk in.

"What do the Faunus have to do with my grandparents?" He sighed.

"Alright Little Red, buckle in. This is gonna be a long story."

"Almost every single important person you see hold little to no power. Every kingdom's government is run by figureheads. Vale's council was made entirely of figureheads, while the actual leaders like Ozpin stayed safe and hidden. Well, after a while of watching governments do this, other people started to figure out that it _actually worked_. So, a hundred or so years ago, rich people started doing the same thing. The leaders of the largest companies in the world suddenly had a way stay rich without making themselves targets for less than honorable people."

"The Roses were important people. Founders of the world's largest distributor of the world's most necessary resource. Dust."

"Wait," I interrupted, "I thought that was the Schnee Dust Company? Wiess always says so…" He smiled.

"It was. As soon as people began to create figureheads for businessmen, Rose-Dust incorporated all but fell off the map. And a new company blossomed overnight, easily overtaking RD inc." Robin winked. "The SDC."

I bit my lip as I contemplated just what he was trying to say. Did that mean… "So we own the Schnee Dust Company?" He nodded.

"Well, until recently. Your grandparents were the last owners before the Schnee's got fed up. One day we owned the place, the next we were out on the street." From the way his eyes looked away as he said that, I could tell that there was something more. An extra detail being left out. But he kept going. "And Mom and Dad did not appreciate that. I was sixteen, Summer was eight. For the first time in our lives we started having to fight for survival. It was hard, and Mom and Dad were… unpleasant to say the least. But eventually, I managed to get away. I pulled some strings using our name at Beacon, and got myself enrolled. Made sure to get a spot for Summer too, when she was old enough. I guess she took me up on that." Once again, he gave me that sad, sullen smile.

"And so did you." I couldn't help it. I had to hug him.

Yes, what we found that day definitely changed my life.

 _ **Ending credits:**_

 _ **Not sure if I really like the uncle's name yet, and unsure where to go with the story if I should go anywhere. Oh, and +10 points for anyone who got the reference with the fork. I would love to hear any comments or criticisms, or opinions on whether to and what to do for continuing the story. Suggestions for names are also helpful. Until next time!**_

 _ **Ending credits pt. II:**_

 _ **I really wanted to get this out yesterday, but it just didn't happen. Oh well, merry late christmas! Oh, and a real quick timeline for my headcanon in this story:**_

 _ **Robin is born, 8 years later Summer is born, another 8 years later the Schnee coup d'etat takes place, 1 year later Robin goes to Beacon, after 4 years Robin "dies", 11 years later Ruby is born, 4 years later Summer dies, 12 years later is present.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Chapter 2 is shorter than I'd have liked but, you win some you lose some. I'm curious if people would be interested in me turning this into an M fic, if I end up going into an overarching story. Welp, here it is. Chapter 2, enjoy!**_

When I woke up, Qrow was drunk. He was usually drunk, but it wasn't very often he had trouble standing; the man could hold his liquor. He was standing in front of me as I layed on the couch, as though to protect me from something. I was fairly certain the sentiment had changed by then though, because he had a bottle of whiskey in one hand and was leaning heavily on a chair as he spoke with my uncle. My other uncle. That was gonna be weird.

"So you're telling me, Summer had a brother this whole time and never told us."

"That seems to be how it worked out, yeah."

Uncle Qrow fell down into the chair he was leaning against, I guess it was too much to take in.

"Why would she never tell us?" Qrow's voice came out distraught, hurt at the idea that Summer hadn't trusted him.

"It's a long story, Uncle Qrow." I jump up from my position on the couch to latch onto his back in a giant hug. He made a small noise of surprise before reaching his arms behind him to hug me back.

"I bet it is kiddo."

Qrow stood back up as I dropped off of him, standing significantly more steadily than before. Maybe he wasn't as drunk as I'd thought. Pointing a finger at Robin, who responded with a raised eyebrow, he spoke.

"Even if you are Summer's brother, that doesn't explain what you're doing out in the middle of nowhere. Kinda sketchy. What is it you do out here?" Robin looked amused at the accusation.

"I hunt."

"You're not a hunter."

"I absolutely am."

"I never saw you at Beacon."

"I'm sure you didn't." Uncle Qrow's agitation began to show on his face, which in turn caused the grin on Uncle Red's to grow wider.

"Fine, if you're a hunter, prove it. Fight me, we'll see if you really have what it takes." Qrow fingered the hilt of his sword scythe.

Immediately I both loved and hated where that conversation was going. The idea of seeing someone who could hunt named grim, and UNCLE QROW sparring? There were movies based on lesser circumstances. On the other hand, I really didn't want either of my uncle's to get hurt. I made up my mind.

"DEAL!" I responded before Uncle Red could get a word in. Both of my uncles were tough right? They could take a little beating for my entertain- err the greater good.

Uncle Red burst out in laughter as soon as he realised what happened. Qrow just gave me a look of mild curiosity.

"Welp, you heard the girl" responded Red, "I guess I don't have a choice." He turned to look at me shook his head at my antics. Whatever, I was allowed to be a kid.

"Would you and your friends like to join in? Five on one sounds closer to a fair fight." He winked at Uncle Qrow. Uncle Qrow was not amused.

I, on the other hand, could barely contain my excitement. With the way Uncle Red had carried his own weight in weapons and still managed to sneak up on the entirety of team RNGR, it was possible Uncle Qrow was about to be given a run for his money. It was only after that thought hit me that I realised the rest of team RNGR was no longer passed out on the kitchen table.

"Couldn't stop us if you tried! But, uh, where are they?"

"They went into the storage room to talk things over once I got here," Qrow responded, "you'd probably better go talk to them." That sounded like Jaune's influence. Nora had probably wanted to smash Uncle Red into the wall, grab me and run. Ren probably had wanted to sneak out the back and wait for him to leave me unguarded. Jaune probably just told him they'd be in the other room, and dragged the two other members in with him. I opened the door.

"RUBY!" Ouch. I knew I wasn't much better, but sometimes it felt like Nora took being loud to a whole new level.

"We were so worried! We woke up on a table of all things and then you were on the couch but there was this guy sitting next to you, ohh he looked scary, so I wanted to punch him and grab you…" Called it. "...but Ren said we should just run away which I guess makes sense but-"

"Nora." Ren interrupted. He seemed tired.

"Right," Nora looked away in embarrassment, "sorry for rambling." I smiled at her.

"It's okay, I understand." I caught movement behind the two of them to see Jaune stand up from where he'd been sitting on a box. Stretching his back, he simply gave me a knowing look.

"So Ruby," continued Ren, "would you care to inform us on just who our generous host is?"

I always hated the shy little girl part of me that kicked in at times, but for some reason I was extremely embarrassed by the question and couldn't look Ren in the eyes when I answered.

"Um, apparently, he's my uncle?" There was silence.

"I'm not talking about Qrow."

"Neither am I?" The silence was deafening. It was Nora that eventually broke the ice.

"So the scary guy who attacked us is your uncle?"

"Yup."

"...AWESOME! I want a mysterious uncle who lives out in the woods! Well, I mean there's Uncle David but I don't know if he really counts…"

"Is he safe?" Jaune asked, speaking for the first time since I'd entered the room.

"Of course he is! He's my uncle! But, he does want to fight us…" Jaune and Ren facepalmed simultaneously while Nora kept talking to herself in the background.

It was at that point that the door creaked open behind us and Qrow poked his head in.

"Well, do they want to spar or not?"

"Absolutely!" shrieked Nora.

"I suppose I have no choice" intoned Ren, as Nora nodded vigorously behind him.

"Well, if everyone else is doing it…" submitted Jaune, as he walked past Qrow and into the kitchen.

"Let's get this over with."

It didn't take long for everyone to prepare for the spar. Ren had done a few stretches, Nora punched a few rocks, and Jaune had run through some basic sword stances. As for myself, Crescent Rose never left my side. Uncle Qrow hadn't seemed to do anything to prepare, but as he stood between RNGR and Uncle Red he seemed to exude an aura of danger. Something cold, and honed by years in the field. Uncle Red didn't even act like he was about to fight. He did no preparation, exuded no aura, and had not even bothered to unsheath a single of his weapons. He simply stood before us, hands down at his sides as he waited for someone to make the first move.

I got impatient. Rushing forward I fired several rounds from Crescent Rose directly at Uncle Red, only to find him sweeping back and forth. Moving the bare minimum to avoid the supersonic bullets. Then, all hell broke lose. Both Uncle Qrow and Nora rushed past me at Uncle Red. Nora on the left, Qrow on the right. I slowed and began to cover them with more fire from Crescent Rose, and it seemed Ren had the same idea as he circled around on the side opposite from me; pestering Uncle Red with his machine-pistols. Never before had I seen anyone move like Uncle Red, and never have I seen his like since. Gliding back to buy time from Qrow and Nora, while simultaneously dodging rounds from both Ren and I, he unstrapped his sword from his back. A massive greatsword that pushed two meters in length, the damn thing weighed almost as much as I did. But he swung it as though it were made of styrofoam.

Allowing Qrow and Nora to catch up to him he slashed the snowy ground with the tip of his blade, throwing up a smokescreen in which he could hide for a fraction of a second. Out of that smokescreen came a wall of steel. The length and awkward handling of a large two handed sword not hindering him in any way, Uncle Red beat upon Nora and Qrow with the ferocity of a grim. There was no respite, no break in his assault. It was everything Nora could do to keep her hammer from flying out of her hands. Qrow was having a much better time avoiding the attacks as opposed to blocking them, but it was obvious he could still feel the pressure.

No matter what Ren and I did, we couldn't seem to touch him. Bullets either bounced off or missed, throwing up snow did little to impede his vision, and we could not approach the one sided melee we surrounded without coming into range of Red's massive blade. It was only when Nora made a mistake, and Red disarmed her, that the pace of the battle changed. Nora's grip on her weapon loosed, and with one mighty swing Uncle Red tore the hammer from her grasp.

Jaune, who had been standing back for the beginning of the fight, seemed to have found an opening. He closed in, and as Uncle Qrow circled around behind Uncle Red, he engaged. It was not a contest of skill or strength. There was no way either side was comparable. Jaune was swept away like a leaf in the wind before the maelstrom of attacks coming from Uncle Red. Jaune did, however, manage to distract Uncle Red long enough for Uncle Qrow to hook his scythe around the hilt of Uncle Red's zweihander, and rip the greatsword from his grasp.

We all felt a sense of accomplishment, the beast of a man was no longer armed and thus posed a much smaller threat. Or so we thought. Uncle Red, upon being disarmed, immediately grabbed Uncle Qrow behind him, and threw him over his shoulder. Unsheathing a smaller straight sword that hung at his side, he back pedaled to face all of us at once. It was then that I realised what the strange horizontal markings on Uncle Red's longsword were. He pressed a button, and I couldn't help but wince as his sword fell apart; each segment of blade held equidistant from each other on a long chain that extended from the handle of the sword. It had changed into a whip.

If the zweihander had been a wall of steel, the snake sword had been just that. A snake. Quickly whipping out to nick away at our endurance, its presence always marked with the threat of a finishing blow. The strange fluid motions of the weapon made it hard to predict, and impossible to block. As Jaune soon learned, attempting to stop the bladed whip from hitting you by use of your weapon would result in your loss of said weapon.

The only one of us that could make any headway was Uncle Qrow. With his insane agility he could dodge around the whip as long as RNGR worked as distractions. With Uncle Qrow on our side, Uncle Red was having a hard time making headway against us. He couldn't hit Qrow; only keep him busy, but if he tried to focus on any one of us weaker links Qrow would punish Red for giving him leeway. On the other hand, there was nothing we could do to touch Uncle Red outside of waiting for him to make a mistake. There were no openings in his position. He never caught his whip on the trees surrounding us. He never focused on any one of us long enough for another to capitalise (he learned quickly when Qrow tried). Even if by some miracle one of us got close enough to render the whip ineffective Uncle Red would switch the whip back into a longsword, and thoroughly trounce the offending person so quickly we didn't have time to take advantage.

In the end though, it was still five against one. And no matter how you look at it, one person will always tire out faster than a team of five. Forty minutes into the fight it started to happen. Uncle Red's blows began to slow down, lose power. The whip would hesitate before striking, and his lashes became more risky as he realised time was running out. Eventually, he took one risk too many. Uncle Qrow trapped the whip beneath his scythe and I saw my chance. My semblance doesn't allow me to dodge well, but I can run in a straight line like nobody's business. As soon as the whip was out of commission I made a break for Uncle Red. I smacked into him as a red blur at nearly supersonic speeds, blasting both myself and Uncle Red back several meters. Dazed and disoriented, he struggled to get up before I wrapped myself around him and locked him into place.

Despite the heavy breathing he still managed to chuckle. Uncle Qrow and my friends began to walk toward us, stopping as everyone caught their breath after the fight. Looking up at Qrow from our position on the ground Red asked: "Well Qrow? Did I pass?"

"...Yeah." responded Qrow, "You could say that."

"Come to think of it; you said you were hunting, but there aren't any grim for miles. What is it you're hunting out here?" Qrow's voice was more curious than accusatory that time, I suppose Red had at least began to gain his trust after the spar. Uncle Red, however, grimaced at the question. His expression bespoke of disgust of the highest order.

""Otso the vicious. A bear-like grim that's lived in this area for nearing eight hundred years. He hibernates during the winter, so..." he stopped to gesture at the snow surrounding us, "I figured I'd look for him while he was asleep. If I could kill him without a fight it would save me a whole lot of trouble."

The name didn't mean much to me at the time, but Uncle Qrow flinched as soon as it was said. Apparently it was fairly bad if it made Uncle Qrow nervous. Uncle Qrow also had a look of acknowledgement sweep over his face as Red spoke.

"So _you're_ the one Ozpin was talking about when he said he had somebody taking care of the problem." Red grinned again, the man seemed to find enjoyment in everything.

"Ozpin? So that old coot's still kicking?" There was no response, all we could do was look away in shame of what happened. Even Qrow fell silent, and Red caught on immediately.

"Seriously? First Summer and now Ozpin? What the fuck happened to him?" This time Qrow did respond.

"We don't know. He was fighting the fall maiden and afterwards… Well, we never found a body, but as far as anyone knows she walked out and he didn't."

"Bullshit." Qrow looked up in surprise, obviously expecting anything but that.

"There is absolutely no reason in the world Amber would hurt Ozpin, so try again, and this time tell the tru-"

"Amber's dead."

"FUCK!" It never occurred to me at the time, but Uncle Red and I thought alike in a lot of ways.

"That's three! What the fuck happened to Amber? Is there anybody else who died I should know about?" My turn to interrupt.

"Well, half the beacon staff died, along with Ozpin. Glynda Goodwich is currently running around like she's on fire trying to keep things together in the other kingdoms, as is Uncle Qrow. Pyrrha Nikos, the best option for next Fall maiden was killed by the actual inheritor of the Fall maiden's powers: Cinder Fall. Who is an evil bitch. Oh, and I'm the only member left from my original team at beacon. Blake is missing, Weiss is under house arrest from her parents, and my sister is missing an arm."

Once again, silence followed. Uncle Red simply sat there, absorbing the information I'd just provided him. It was a lot to take in, especially if you hadn't been there to see it happen. The idea that something so massively improbable would happen seemed to grate on Uncle Red's nerves as he swallowed the sour pill of reality he'd been given. When he was done thinking, he spoke with such single minded determination that one would be hard pressed not to believe him.

"I'm going to kill Cinder Fall."

I hugged him. He hesitated in a moment of confusion before hugging me back, but I didn't really care. He looked like he needed it, and I was happy. In a roundabout way, I'd convinced him to help team RNGR with our cause. I'd gained a powerful ally, a tutor, and after many long years, I'd gotten back some of my mother. Halfway through the hug though, I felt him tense up under me.

"Ruby…"

"Yeah?"

"You said you have a sister?"

"...yeah"

"How old is she?"

"Seventeen, why?"

I have seen the face of the devil three times. Primal murder, rage incarnate. That was one of those times. I immediately let go of Uncle Red as he began to stomp towards the cabin, shaking with rage.

" _Summer had a kid before she was even out of school?!"_

"Uh, actually she wasn't mom's…" Uncle Red only began to stomp louder.

"Uncle Red? Where are you going?"

" _I'm gonna kick the shit out of your dad."_

 _ **Ending credits:**_

 _ **Not sure why, but I absolutely adore one line cliffhangers. I'd love to know what you guys think of the story, especially the writing style and how I could improve. More fighting scenes, or focus on character interactions? And once again, where do you think the story should go? I'm always open to suggestions. Au revoir.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**_Author's Note:_**

 ** _Sorry about the exceedingly short chapter, I was trying to fuse this with chapter four but it was taking too long. I promise next one will be longer than usual._**

Lethargic. As much as I hated it, the word had been floating around in my head for three days. I couldn't get rid of it, I tried singing catchy songs, counting, reciting the alphabet backwards… nothing worked. And it wasn't like I had many other things I could focus on. Laying in bed tends to do that to you. I was always just a little too hot, or a little too cold. I felt slow, sticky. As if a sheen of _gross_ coated my skin. Bathing didn't help.

At first it hadn't been like that. My bed was comfortable and Dad had waited on me while I recovered. The sun shined in through the window, and the air was fresh and crisp. I hadn't been happy, rather depressed actually, but I hadn't been uncomfortable. After a while though, the depression began to fade away. When what happened was no longer on the forefront on my mind, and I started to become restless. I realised that my conditions were miserable. The bed was not comfortable. It was sweaty and smothering, I always felt as if it would swallow me up. My pillows were had, my blankets itchy. The days were too hot and the nights too cold. The blinds on the windows were closed, and it was always dark. The air tasted old and stale.

It'd been three days since I'd gotten a full night's sleep. I hated it. When my body collapsed from exhaustion I would pass out in a dreamless daze, waking up unrested and irritable. It was miserable, and so was everything else. My muscles were always sore and weak, my hair was a mess, I even lost track of the time of day. I'd gone from a psychological misery to a physical one, and I was fed up.

So, at three twenty one in the morning, I threw off my covers and made for my wardrobe. I was done laying around doing jackshit. Turns out though that no matter how much determination you have, not using your legs for months on end will atrophy your muscles. I could hardly walk, and my arm didn't fare much better when I tried to crawl. Despite this however, I slowly but surely made my way towards my dresser to grab a spare set of clothes. Upon completion, I made way for the shower.

A little over an hour later, I was clean and wearing freshly laundered clothes. I still had a little trouble walking, but for the most part I was mobile. My muscles burned, but I was still restless, and there were hours before Dad would wake up. So, I decided to work out. My old training regimen was out of the question, but I thought a walk would be reasonable. I set out for exercise.

Ten minutes in and I wanted to die, never before had I worked so hard. The sun hadn't even risen, normally the cool morning air would have made my trek through the forest path even easier. It didn't. Normally, I would have been able to count the leaves on the trees as I ran, the cold morning dew brushing against my thighs in the tall grass. Instead, I shuffled along the pass, hardly able to think through the pain. I passed bushes filled with berries, blooming flowers and sleeping birds. Hiking over hills and under bridges as my legs threatened to detach

I think, at that point, what spurred me on the most was self hatred. I hated myself for getting depressed, I hated myself for giving up, even before that I hated myself for being able to do more when it mattered, but most of all I hated that I'd let myself grow weak. Once upon a time, I was arguably the strongest student in my class at beacon. One of the front runners for the school. So, as I struggled on and on, a single stream of thoughts ran through my head over and over.

 _Fuck you._ I thought, _It hurts? Good. You've done this to yourself you lazy sack of shit. One foot in front of the other. Fuck you._

I never measured out the trail I took that morning, but from what I remember it was roughly a mile. Just. One. It took me three hours. When I got home I collapsed through the doorway, moaning in discomfort and fully expecting Dad to rush to my side and help me up. Instead, I heard a voice I hadn't heard in a long time.

"Yang!"

"Ruby?"

My little sister was on me faster than I could realise what was happening. She threw me to my feet and dragged me back to the kitchen table where she'd been sitting, yapping the whole way there.

"Yang! You've gotta help me! Uncle Red is so mad at Dad and I can't calm him down, he just started running here and I had to use my semblance to keep up! Now they're in the backyard and-"

"RUBY," she stopped " _What_ is going on? Slowly this time."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Opening them again she spoke at a pace I could follow.

"When I told Uncle Red you weren't mom's he got really angry and now he's gonna beat up Dad!" There were a few seconds' pause.

" _Who's_ gonna beat up Dad?" It was then that the back door slammed open, revealing two figures. One was my father, but another I'd never seen before. They both looked angry.

My father was growling something at the man, but I never heard what he said. My full attention was dedicated to the new figure, who had turned to look at me while scanning the room. I could tell he was angry, but nothing about him betrayed that he was so besides his expression. It was one of a cold anger, the undying ember left to seethe after the fire of rage burned out. He glanced over me with cold, piercing green eyes and smiled. The first words I ever heard him say were

"Speak of the devil."

My father stopped mid rant to turn in my direction, his eyes growing wide.

"Yang? When did you get out of bed?"

"This morning…" I replied, "what's going on?"

 _ **Ending Credits:**_

 _ **Looking forward to you guys' thoughts on the change in perspective. Next chapter also isn't from Ruby's POV, but if you guys don't like it I'll try to keep it in Ruby's consistantly. Until next time!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Sorry for the long wait! I've been working on so many things, including other stories for you guys. Plus I've been trying to only give you one perspective per chapter, which might result in some very short but very hard to write chapters. Please leave your thoughts in the reviews, and I promise there will be more soon! Ish.**_

I loved Summer, my little sister always meant a lot to me. I wanted to protect her from everything, which didn't work out. Maybe that's why I hated her boyfriends with a burning passion even when they hadn't done anything wrong. I just wanted to strangle anything and everything that would could've hurt Summer. Or I was afraid of her leaving the nest, but I doubt that.

To tell the truth, the idea that Summer would get married never really crossed my mind. I always knew it was a possibility, but I didn't give it any real credit; even if she did try to get hitched, she wouldn't do it without telling me and I could cross that bridge when I got to it. So when she never sent me anything about getting married I figured it just hadn't happened. I might have fallen off the map, but if she really wanted to I'm sure Summer could have found me.

I was right, in the end, but not in the way I'd thought. It didn't occur to me until nearly a day after meeting Summer's daughter, but even if Summer hadn't married it didn't mean _other things_ hadn't happened. She'd still had boyfriends. Apparently, she'd had a kid. I was fine with it at first. The shock of her death had numbed me, and I saw Ruby as a part of her that'd come to me. Some legacy she'd left that i could still care for.

In hindsight it probably wasn't smart to latch onto Ruby so quickly, but I couldn't help it. She reminded me so much of myself! I'd even taken to calling her Little Red in my mind. Honestly I don't know if she'd have appreciated the nickname. Or would appreciate, she still has it. She just doesn't know.

But anyway, despite it taking me a full day to realise the revelation hit me hard. I was laying there in the snow with Little Red wrapped around me from our spar when I finally put two and two together. She hadn't been married, but Summer had had a kid. That meant she'd been with a guy. I _had_ to kill him. On principal. But I didn't want Ruby to be out both parents, I understood out shitty that was from my own childhood. Maybe I'd just maim him, he could still be a dad with only one hand. Or, more fitting to his crime, maybe he could go without a certain other member of his anatomy? Nah, that was too cruel. I mean, at least they'd waited until… wait.

"Ruby…" I lifted myself from the ground, Little Red still strapped to my back.

"Yeah?"

"You said you have a sister?"

"...yeah"

"How old is she?"

"Seventeen, why?"

Summer was going to be thirty eight that year, if Summer was twenty two when she graduated that would put the birth of Ruby's sister… my face hardened.

" _Summer had a kid before she was even out of school?!"_ Growling that was probably overkill, but I was angry! What do you expect?

"Uh, actually she wasn't mom's…" There was a brief moment of silence as I processed the new information. The boyfriend had an affair? Or, Summer was the affair? Didn't matter, either way that cinched it. The Dick was coming off.

I set my jaw and started towards my cabin, I had grab a few things for the operation…

"Uncle Red? Where are you going?" The tone of her voice caught me off guard. There was genuine worry there, maybe I wasn't the only one to get prematurely attached. Damnit, I liked her too much. I couldn't tell her I was gonna mutilate her father. Son of a bitch.

" _I'm gonna kick the shit out of your dad."_ You didn't know it yet Tai, but your daughter had just bought you back your baby maker.

Despite using my semblance, it took me all night to reach the home of Taiyang Xiao Long. It was more secluded than I'd thought, but I'd assumed that was Summer's doing. She was accustomed to living in secluded areas. I'd noticed Little Red following me, but she wasn't as practiced with her semblance as I was. I had about a half hour before she caught up. Looking around I noticed recent tracks on a nearby forest path, made maybe two hours before I arrived. I hoped he wasn't out on a hike, if he was I'd have to wait for him.

Now don't get me wrong, if your target comes home from a hike to find you sitting on their couch smiling, waiting for them, you have officially made a badass entrance. That being said, the waiting is boring as fuuckkk. So, praying for the best, I slammed my fist against the wooden door three times. Then I waited. Silence. Knock. Wait. Silence. Knock. Wait.

" _Uhhhhhhhhgggggggg, I'm up, I'm up…"_ The door slowly creaked open and staring back at me from the doorframe was the face of exhaustion.

He was beautiful for a man, excepting those maring features that come with a lack of sleep. He also looked as though he'd been under a great deal of stress but I could see why Summer and _other women_ would find him attractive. Swallowing my building rage I abandoned that train of thought, no need to display my anger. Yet.

"Good morning!" I start, throwing on one of those too wide smiles that only salesmen wear. "Are you the father of one Ruby Rose?" Despite his exhaustion, the visibly widened his eyes at her name.

"Yeah.. Why? Did something happen?" An undertone of worry crept into his voice. Good. I schooled my features into a frown and looked away.

"I'm afraid so… she's about to undergo a very traumatic experience. The loss of a father figure."

To his credit, the man only took a fraction of a second to figure out what was happening. He was backing away and falling into a fighting stance before most people would've been able to blink. Unfortunately for him, I most certainly am and was not most people. I stepped forward and grabbed his arms, before reversing him and shoving him to the ground. I stood ominously over him, feet planted on either side of his torso.

"Let's start over, I feel like we got off on the wrong foot." It was childish and cliché, but I was having fun. "Hi! I'm Robin Rose, a freelance hunter working for the Valian Government, and you fucked my sister." This time it took him longer to put together what was going on, so I merrily continued without him. "I've also heard tell that you had a kid with some woman… and _then_ decided you wanted to get Summer pregnant!" The rage I had been suppressing was slowly showing through as I spoke, and I couldn't help but grow a small sadistic grin as I bent forward and whispered to him. "I wouldn't have done those things if I were you. Didn't anyone ever tell you cheating isn't healthy?" I punctuated the last word by resting my foot between his shoulder blades.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." A muffled voice sounded from below me. _Ah great,_ I thought, _Summer picked a masochist. Now what am I supposed to do?_ I lifted my foot from the man's back, no point in that anymore. "Summer and I never got that chance to meet you before…"

"Shut up." I interrupted, "I'm in the middle of beating you up for my sister's honor." _Wait, if he's a masochist does that mean Sumner was a sa- nevermind, let's not think about that._

"By all means." The man relaxed himself onto the floor, as if he were waiting for me. I frowned.

"You're not suppose to be taking this so well."

"I've been through this before with Qrow." _So the other woman was Qrow's sister… that actually makes sense now I think about it. Damnit. "_ Get up." I had lost any hint of anger in my voice, instead I had fallen into the monotone patterns of resignation.

The man slowly drew himself up off the floor and turned to face me. His expression was one of confusion, an expression that was only exaggerated when I motioned for him to sit down.

"What's your name?"

"What happened to beating the shit out of me?"

"I lost interest. Don't push it." The glare I have him seemed to get the point across.

"Taiyang Xiao Long. And you're Robin?" Another glare.

"Yeah." I looked away. Damn it was awkward. We both sat for a while, no one comfortable with speaking first. After what seemed like an eternity, Tai stood and regaled me with a sentiment I could only agree with.

"I need a drink."

Being drunk made meeting my sister's lover much easier. Mostly it did that by making me forget he was my sister's lover. In the end, I actually really liked Tai. He was a straightforward, honest kind of guy. He could take a joke and punch, and dole out both. That just makes it more of a pity we only spent all of fifteen minutes enjoying each other's company before suddenly Little Red appeared, out of breath and hammering at the front door.

"DAD? UNCLE RED? SOMEBODY OPEN THE DOOR!"

She sounded genuinely worried, and I felt a small pain of guilt that I'd worried her so much about her dad. Tai rose from where he was sitting to open the door, catching Little Red as she jumped up on him in a massive hug.

"Oh thank dust you're okay! I guess Uncle Red just hadn't found-" Then she caught me grinning at her from behind her father. Words caught in her throat, I could tell she wanted to say something, but so many things were trying to come out at once they all denied each other passage. After a few moments of silence, Little Red attempted to jump down from her father's arms, only to find herself trapped against him.

"Dad? Can I get down?" He tightened his grip around her.

"Are you kidding? Last time I left you alone for ten minutes you ran away!" _Ah shit. That's gonna get really awkward really fast._

"I couldn't just stay here! I had to leave! What was I supposed to do about Cinder? About my friends?"

"You could have waited! Or told me!" Tai was unconsciously increasing his grip around Little Red to the point where most people would get a cracked rib.

"Maybe my friends can't wait! And you would've said no!"

"EXACTLY!" _I should probably step in before this gets any worse._

"Tai," I call out, "listen to your girl. I know letting them grow up sucks, but she can make her own decisions." I tilt my head to the side and meet Little Red's silver gaze with my own falsely green one.

"And L- Ruby, for fucks sake if your dad says no there's probably a good goddamned reason for it! Don't just run off and give him a heart attack!"

Tai let his grip around his daughter fall away and scratched the back of his head, smiling morosely as he considered what I'd said. Little Red dropped from around her father and clasped her hands before her, looking away and blushing from either shame or embarrassment. She was the living picture of a repentant child. I sighed, I hated having to get involved in family arguments that didn't involve me. Though I suppose it was technically my family so, perhaps that made it a little better.

"I'm still not done," Little Red squeaked from where she was looking away, "Jaune, Ren, Nora, and I still need to stop Cinder. I still need to find Blake and Weiss, to make my team a team again." I could see Tai's conflicting emotions dance across his face. Pride, Anger, Fear.

"No." He finally spoke, "You're staying here where it's safe. Qrow can handle Cinder and I'm sure your team will be fine with their families."

Little Red rose to meet her dad's eyes as he spoke, and her expression jumped from one of betrayal to one of anger. Once again she had many things to say, but I could tell this time she would not choke and a tidal wave of righteous anger would pour forth onto this paternal heretic.

"Hey Tai," I snarled, "let's go talk outside real quick." I grabbed Tai by the arm and pulled him out the back door, hopefully stemming the flow of his daughter's wrath with my own false one. Tai stumbled along behind me, slipping free of my grip as we crossed the boundary to the outside.

"What is it?" He started, short and annoyed at my interruption.

"I'm going to kidnap Ruby"

…

"WHAT?!"

"Listen," I explained, "she's gonna leave whether you let her or not. Is it stupid? Yes, but she's sixteen-"

"Fifteen" He corrected

"And she's going do what she thinks is right." I continued heedless. "So, I'll take her with me. If she wants to fight this Cinder character and find her friends, she might as well come with me. I have a bone to pick with the she-bitch anyway and don't really have anything more important to do." My thiughts wandered to the named grim I'd been hunting before this fiasco. He could wait. Probably. "So I'll keep her safe and she gets to do what she thinks she needs to. Everyone wins."

"I hate you, you know that?" He scowled.

"You fucked my sister, I steal your daughter. Call it even." I retorted. He deepend his scowl and turned away from me muttering and heading back inside.

"By the way," I asked, "where's Ruby's sister?" He stopped.

"You mean Yang? Why do you-"

"I'm thinking it might be best if I took her too." That was when Tai broke.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! NO! NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!" He continued to rant at me as I gave him an apologetic smile and walked past, back into the kitchen.

I schooled my features to look angry, a deep scowl marring my face. Slamming the door open I strutted in, clenching a fist for good measure. I always enjoyed putting on a show. Tai stepped in behind me, still yelling about how I was not going to take both his daughters when I cast a look around the room to find Little Red sitting at the counter and looking worried. A welcome development from her earlier rage. She was also talking to a newcomer who sat beside her, a girl a few years her senior with long blonde hair and dark sweat spots staining her clothes. Her stature and motion bespoke of great strength, but she as she sat there I could tell she suffered from atrophy. She was also missing her arm, it'd been cut just above the elbow leaving a short stump. She turned to look at me, mild surprise and confusion filling her gaze. Immediately I knew who she was.

"Speak of the devil."

 _ **Ending credits:**_

 _ **Still trying to work out how I want Red's inner dialogue to sound, opinions on what you liked and didn't would be a great help! Hope you enjoyed the chapter that shouldn't have taken as long as it did. Until next time!**_


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